Northern Governors Call For Rivers CP’s Removal!

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Four Northern Governors have called for the removal of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr Joseph Mbu. The Governors, Babangida Aliyu, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, Sule Lamido and Murtala Nyako of Niger, Kano, Jigawa and Adamawa states made the call during a solidarity visit to Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State on Tuesday. It will be recalled that Governor Amaechi had earlier made a similar called while the House of Representatives also did the same while deliberating on the Rivers State crisis.

The Governors urged the Inspector General of Police to immediately redeploy the CP over his unprofessionalism and partisanship in the crisis in Rivers State. A statement jointly issued by the Governors read in part “we wish to call on the Inspector General of Police to hearken to the voices of reason and immediately redeploy and discipline Commissioner Joseph Mbu, His action smacks of unprofessionalism and political partisanship which is unbecoming of his office.”

The Governors went on to state that “with the way the police is being used and abused, and with officers like Mbu in the bus, we do not see the need for state governments to fund an antagonistic police and may be forced to reconsider our position on the financial contribution of states towards the funding of the Nigerian police.”

The four Governors also used the opportunity to renew calls for the creation of state police. “Arising from the action of the police, and Joseph Mbu in Rivers State, the call for state police as a constitutional provision has become a necessity. We note that the events in Rivers state have again brought to the fore the issue of true federalism and the need for institutions derived from the Constitutions to be allowed to function without undue interference. As federating units, we must be allowed the space to guarantee our people’s sustainable development as provided by the Constitution,” the Governors noted.

Calls were also made to concerned parties to “defuse tension and stop all actions capable of overheating the polity and derailing our nascent democracy”

The vehicles that conveyed the Governors from the airport on arrival in Port Harcourt on Tuesday were pelted with different missiles including stones, water bottles and sticks.